Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Easter (April 22 2012)

              Theme: The Journey from Redemption to Salvation

After the fall of Adam, there was a big gap between God and man. Man could no longer find his way back to God because he was blindfolded by sin. He wallowed in darkness looking for a meaningful existence but could not find any being outside of God’s presence.

Filled with pity and love, God initiated a plan to bring man back to Himself, a plan that would involve a two-staged journey. He decided to begin the first stage of this journey with His only Son about two thousand years ago.

The first stage which was accomplished by Christ with his passion and death was intended to prepare man for the final stage which he has to accomplish by himself. The first stage of the journey was from sin to redemption and the second stage was from redemption to salvation.

The redemption brought by Christ destined us for salvation. Our repentance from sin prepares us for salvation and our reconciliation with God and our neighbour draws us closer to our salvation.

Thus, in the first reading (Acts 3:13-15,17-19), Peter explains to the Jews how they could use this redemption brought by Christ to work out their salvation through repentance and reconciliation.

Reflection/Homily: Second (2nd) Sunday of Easter (April 15 2012)

Theme: Witnessing to the Gospel in Faith and Love

Pragmatism is an ideology that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application. For instance, a pragmatist will only believe that one is a good cook not when he describes the process of preparing a particular dish but when he actually prepares it well.

Pragmatism has permeated every sector of our society and religion has not been spared. In times past, people believed a man of God by the authority with which he spoke, but today, by the signs and wonders he perform. The world wants every theory to be practiced and proved effective before it is accepted.

In the gospel reading (Jn. 20:19-31), we see Thomas as a core pragmatist. He did not believe in reasoning but in experience. He never wanted to listen to the event of Christ’s resurrection and appearance but wanted to experience it. He needed an empirical first-hand experience.

In our religious practices, many of us are like Thomas. We want God to show us everything, to reveal every mystery to us before we believe. We want to see the Eucharist turn into empirical flesh and blood. We want to see a candidate for anointing of the sick rise up immediately after receiving the sacrament. We want God’s blessings and promises to materialize immediately, etc.

But have we ever cared to compare our expectation from God and God’s expectations from us? We expect God to be pragmatic, to be practical, but are we also pragmatic in our relationship with God? Can our religious doctrines and beliefs be seen practically in our lives?

Reflection/Homily: Easter Sunday (April 8 2012)

Theme: Now that Christ has risen!

For the past forty days, we have been journeying with the Lord to Calvary. This journey was not easy. It was both a physical and Spiritual Journey. It demanded a lot of sacrifice and penance. At the beginning of the Holy week, there was a great tension as we began to meditate on the passion of Christ. At the Triduum, the tension was greater when Christ entered into his passion and death.

This tension caused despair and disappointment among his friends. They could not believe his death nor understand why Christ had to die with all his powers. His arrest, condemnation, passion and death were like a dream for them. They were sure of the several times he miraculously escaped from the wicked crowd. They could not understand why this time he had to allow himself to be taken over so freely. They were afraid and disappointed. They thought all about him has been forgotten for he has been defeated.

In this state of disappointment, Mary of Magdala came to announce that Christ’s body was missing as we saw in the gospel reading (Jn. 20:1-9). Peter and John ran to the tomb to discover the empty tomb.

With this, they were more confused for as the gospel records, they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. But reading further into today’s gospel, we find the clarification of their doubts and the clearing of their confusion that Christ was not missing but that he had been risen.

Awakened by the joy of resurrection, Peter went out to announce the Good News of Christ Jesus as we saw in the first reading (Acts. 10:34,37-43). He spoke with authority and explained the mystery and mission of Christ to his audience. The Good News he preached became the first public post-resurrection testimony about Christ.

Reflection/Homily: Easter Vigil/Holy Saturday (April 7 2012)

Theme: Who will roll back the Stone for us?

 For more than two thousand years ago, humanity has never known a night as powerful as tonight. Tonight represents that great night when the power of death was conquered, the night that reconciled heaven and earth, the night of hope.

The Mother Church is glad for the joyful and glorious triumph of her spouse, Jesus, over death. That is why she invites her children to rejoice and ponder over the salvific wonders of God. The readings all speak of God’s benevolence, love, salvation and mercy on all He created.

Beginning with the book of Genesis, we recall the goodwill God manifested for man which He revealed in creation. We remember His covenant with Abraham. We recall His mighty deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and His blessings and counsels through the prophets.

Tonight, we see the restoration God is making. He is making all things new for those who love Him. He is restoring us from death to life, from sickness to health, from poverty to riches and most importantly from sin to righteousness. This is the night of liberation, when God liberates us from the shackles of sin, of condemnation, of determinism and from hopelessness.

Reflection/Homily: Good Friday (April 6 2012)

Theme: The Sacrifice of the Cross: A Paradigm of Christian Sacrifice

Since the fall of Adam, humanity has known no peace. Suffering and death has been the lot of man so much so that life is nothing but misery. This death was not restricted to physical death but included spiritual death. Man’s soul lost the hope of paradise.

In this miserable condition, God did not abandon His people because of the great love He bears for them. He initiated plans to save them. This plan began with making the people conscious of their evil ways and directing them in the right direction. He made covenants with them and gave them regulations through the patriarchs and prophets.

At His appointed time, He sent His Son for the culmination of man’s redemption through the great sacrifice he offered. Though the Israelites had previously offered sacrifices for sins, their sacrifices were incapable of cleansing them because they were made with blood of animals. There was need for a higher victim, so Jesus became the victim and the oblation.

In the first reading (Is. 52:13-53, 12), we see a picture of the suffering servant, a pre-figure of Jesus who through his suffering and death will cleanse and save the world. This suffering servant is the sacrifice offered for the forgiveness of sins. In the passion narrative (Jn. 18: 1-19:42), we see the manner and form in which this sacrifice was offered.

The story line of Jesus’ passion and death is an old and familiar story. Every action is significant and points towards our redemption and salvation. This evening, we shall reflect on the significance of Simon of Cyrene in the passion narrative and on the significance of the burial of Jesus.

The Significance of Simon of Cyrene in the Passion Narrative: The gospel records that on his journey to Golgotha, fearing that Jesus would die before reaching there because he could scarcely walk, the soldiers mandated Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross behind our Lord. Simon of Cyrene is a reflection of an ideal Christian life – that of carrying the Cross. It is not only christian to carry one’s cross but more christian to carry one another’s cross. 

It is because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that we are saved and he wants us to reciprocate by sacrificing 

Reflection/Homily: Palm/Passion Sunday Year B (April 1 2012)

                                     Theme: Learning to obey through humility and suffering

In our world today, one comes to discover that obedience as a virtue is only practiced when it is convenient and favourable for the individual. Most of us prefer to obey not just when it is easier but when we have something to gain from it. Obedience is a difficult virtue to cultivate otherwise there would not be incessant cases of people breaking civil and moral laws every day. Obedience involves self-emptying (kenosis) because it is the offering up of one’s will to do the will of another. It is the letting go of our ideologies, intentions and actions to adopt those of the other and sometimes, unpleasant ones.

Today being the last Sunday of lent which we traditionally call Palm/Passion Sunday, the Church presents to us through the readings, the examples of Christ who learnt to obey through humility and suffering. In the first part of today’s liturgy (the blessing and procession with palms), we see Jesus’ great obedience to the will of his Father by triumphantly entering the Holy City. Jesus was not just triumphant in the manner with which he entered Jerusalem, he was more triumphant in his obedience to accept death, death on a cross, even against the wish of his special friend Peter (cf. Mk 8:33).

That is to say that we can regard ourselves as being successful not when we win a legal battle or an 

Reflection/Homily: Fifth (5th) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 25 2012)

                                Theme: The Christian Cross as a Gateway to Heaven

           

            In our lives we really desire good things but sometimes, we are not able to pass through crucibles in other to get them. Most students dream of graduating with first class certificates but only a few are really burning extra candles. Every achievement must be attained through hard work. That is why in today’s gospel (John 12:20-33), Jesus reiterates this principle that nothing good comes easy. We must work it out under difficult situations. Jesus uses the analogy of the sown wheat to demonstrate that to redeem man, he must die and for us to gain eternal life, we must also die just as a sown wheat must die in the ground before it yields a rich harvest. The problem is that most of us are reluctant to work hard. This reluctance is found in our physical and spiritual lives. Sometimes, we want this or that from God but we can’t kneel in prayer to get them. We want to go to heaven but we can’t do good and avoid evil. We want to be exceptionally spiritually gifted but we can’t work hard to develop these spiritual gifts, etc.

            Today, Jesus invites us to learn from him how to boldly accept unpleasant situations for a pleasant result. The gospel began by narrating how some Greeks who came for worship at Jerusalem requested to see Jesus through the Apostles Philip and Andrew. Though John did not tell us whether 

Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4th) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 18 2012)

Theme: God’s Immeasurable Love for Humanity

          

  In today’s readings, we are challenged to reflect on God’s immeasurable love for humanity and its implications for us. The concept “love of God” could mean either God’s love for us or our love for God but in this period of lent, we consider God’s love for us first because it will inspire our love for God which will also be translated in our love for our neighbours.

           

In the first reading (2 Chr. 36:14-16, 19-23), the Israelites with their political and religious leaders all rebelled against God and defiled God’s dwelling place. Out of love for them, God constantly sent messengers to direct and teach them but their messages were treated with scorn. God did not abandon them but kept on watching them as they neglected His Love and wallowed in sin. Being vulnerable for being outside of God’s love, they were attacked and taken into captivity by the Babylonians. When they suffered and learnt their lessons, God had to intervene because of the love He has for them by raising up a king who will proclaim their liberty, offer them treasures and help them rebuild the Temple as we see in Ezra chapter 1.

          

The second reading (Eph 2:4-10), also confirms this love of God not just for the Israelites alone but for

Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 11 2012)

           There was this story I read up at the MSNBC website few days ago about Taylor Sauer, 18, an intelligent high school graduate who met her untimely death when she ran into a truck while messaging a pal on facebook as she drove. It was discovered later that Taylor posted on facebook every 90 seconds while driving. Since then, the parents Clay and Shauna Sauer still grieving over the Jan. 12 2012 incident have become lobbyist in their home state Idaho (U.S) urging the state legislature to pass a law banning texting or facebooking while driving. The father said “I think every state should have the texting ban law, it might not make changes right now, but for the young generations, it will be an educational tool, just like the seat belt law”.

             From the background of this story, we see a law (like the law banning texting/facebooking while driving) not as anything evil but as a necessary good to prevent a potential danger. This means that law givers do not give or make laws for punishment or to deprive people of comfort but to ensure people’s safety and general well-being.

            In the first reading, we see the Ten Commandments, an important law that binds all Christians

Reflection/Homily: Second (2nd) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 4 2012)

Theme:  Faith through Sacrifice gives way to vision at the mountain-top

            As a little boy, when I first heard the passage read in the first reading, the first question that was raised in my mind was whether God could tempt one to sin since Abraham would have sinned if he had sacrificed Isaac. I later grew up to understand this passage better bearing in mind the distinction between temptation and test. The Hebrew word “nacah” is rendered in English as “to test or tempt”. Its Greek equivalent “peirasmos” also means “to test or tempt”. The words “test and tempt” though similar are not exactly the same, the former is positive while the latter is negative. For this reason, exegetes recommend we look into the context to differentiate between the two meanings, bearing in mind that God only tests while Satan tempts. The goal of God’s tests is for us to prove our faith but the devil tempts to destroy our faith. St. James stresses this distinction when he says “consider it a great joy when tests of many kinds come upon you, for you well know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance… (1 v.2-3) and “… God does not tempt anyone to sin” (1 v.13).

            In Genesis 12, God tested Abraham to leave his father’s land for an unknown land. Abraham through his obedience demonstrated that he loved God more than his father’s land. In the first

 reading as we saw today, God tested Abraham again to see how convinced and strong his faith was by

Reflection/Homily: First (1st) Sunday of Lent Year B (February 25 2012)

A covenant ordinarily speaking could mean an agreement between two or more people, equal or unequal. It could be an agreement for sale of one’s property or for a contract. It could be between two business men or between a master and his slave. In Biblical usage, the word covenant rendered in Hebrew (O.T) as b’rit and in Greek (N.T) as diatheke, refers to the agreement between God and His chosen people, the Israelites. Sometimes, we wonder why the All Powerful God had to go into an agreement with mortal men who solely depend on Him? Likening our relationship with God to our relationship with our possessions (like a pair of shoe), do we need to make an agreement with our pair of shoe not to discard it when it is no longer needed? Going into such an agreement means belittling ourselves. However, God had to make this agreement with man just to go extra miles to convince us of His love for us, so that being aware of His love for us, we might reciprocate this love by keeping his commandments.

In the first reading, we see one of such unmerited agreements God had with humanity through 

Reflection/Homily: Ash Wednesday of Year B (February 22 2012)

            It was not long ago that it was announced in a parish that the diocesan bishop would be coming to the parish on a pastoral visit. This great event of the bishop’s visit once in four years due to the large size of the diocese was marked with a great preparation. There were renovations within the Church premises, decorations, clean ups, etc just to prepare for the great event of the bishop’s visit. This is an indication that most often, important and remarkable things do not just happen without serious preparations. For an ordination and profession to take place there must have been a period of formation, for graduation, a period of scholarly involvements, serious academic struggles and scholarship, for marriage, a period of courtship and even for Christmas, a period of advent.

            Therefore, the Church as the Vehicle of Salvation has also deemed it wise to prepare Her members for the re-enactment of the Sacred Mysteries of the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. That is why today being “Ash Wednesday”, we are launched into this great season of preparation we all regard as the Lenten season or period.

           Today’s liturgy has two special characters: repentance and preparation. These special 

Reflection/Homily: Seventh (7th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (February 19 2012)

     A certain young lady got married and could not take in after twelve years. The husband and his relatives were worried and threatened her with a divorce. Touched by the woman’s predicaments, her friends decided to take her to a gynecologist who was also an expert in psychology. She examined her thoroughly and found nothing physically wrong with her system. She delved into the interior aspect of her life and after some psychological tests discovered that the young lady have had twelve abortions before marriage. After the counseling and recommendations she received, in less than a year, she took in and was delivered of a baby safely.

          The similarity between this story and that of the paralytic in the gospel reading is that the two patients were taken to be healed not by themselves because of their incapability to help themselves but by their friends. For us, this means that our journey

Reflection/Homily: Sixth (6th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (February 12 2012)

Looking at the world, I think the world is suffering from IGNORANCE in PHD. PHD stands for Poverty, Hunger and Disease. Ignorance means lack of knowledge or awareness. It also includes lack of skills to solve a particular problem even if there is awareness of it. Poverty means the state of being extremely poor and we can confirm that most people in the world are not only financially poor but technically, structurally, academically, medically, etc poor. Hunger means among other things, a strong desire for something and we can see in people the hunger for food, basic amenities, wealth, fame, political positions, etc. Disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism and we can see the abnormal conditions like terrorism (especially the boko haram insurgence in Nigeria, ), war, pride, kidnapping, sickness, fraud, even ignorance, affecting man. These problems are in chains because a poor man is a hungry man, a hungry man is an angry man and an angry man is a sick man. Most often we lack something, hunger for something or suffer something but it becomes a big problem when one is ignorant of these situations or lacks the skills to confront them. Of all these, the worst is 

Reflection/Homily: Fifth (5th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (February 5 2012)

At one moment or the other in our lives, life may have been very unbearable for us because of the miserable conditions we find ourselves in. Sometimes, it could be as a result of vocation crises, medical problem that the doctors cannot help, or an emotional problem or a spiritual or financial difficulty or even a family problem. At such moments, we regret our coming into the world. We then begin to look around for solutions to our problems, sometimes, with myopic eyes and not even being able to meet those who can help us.

Such was the condition Job found himself in the first reading. His problem was psychological, physical, emotional, financial and whatever you can imagine. Job was certain he didn’t offend God but wondered why he was in such a horrible condition. He lost the hope of rising again and caused everything about him. He eventually realized it was only God who created him could rescue him. Often times, we find ourselves in such conditions and we begin by blaming God instead of going to him for healing.

The gospel reading of today teaches us what best to do when we are challenged by difficult situations. Peter had to invite Jesus to heal his mother-in-law when she was terribly sick because of the faith

A Reflection/Homily/Sermon on the Fourth (4th) Sunday in Ordinary time Year B (January 29 2012)

The first reading presents us with the story of God’s promise to the Israelites that He will raise up another prophet like Moses who will lead them. They are to recognize this prophet through the authority and integrity he will exercise in his words and actions. God however, warned against abusing this authority by saying things not ordered by them.

In the gospel reading, we find the perfect fulfillment of this promise in the life of Christ. The gospel records that “his teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority”. This authority was seen in Jesus’ words and actions. A perfect example is seen also in the gospel in his encounter with the unclean spirit. The unclean spirit even recognized Jesus’ authority. The gospel also mentioned that “he gives orders even to

A Reflection on the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) January 22 2012

Peter and Robinson were two good business associates. One day they travelled to a far away land to buy some goods as usual. This time they bought more than usual because they wanted to maximize profits. On their way back they remembered their lorry would not pass through the tunnel on the road because of the height of the goods loaded on it. When they got to the tunnel, it was about to rain and they were confused on what to do. They lessened the tyres to reduce the height of the lorry but it couldn’t work. As they were thinking of what to do, a little boy approached them and said: “it is about to rain and it is better to lose a part than to lose the whole”. They read meaning into this and decided to remove the excess and less profitable goods, lost it to the rain and the lorry was able to pass through the tunnel.

This little boy could be regarded as the Prophet Jonah we saw in the first reading and the businessmen, as the people of Nineveh. The Ninevites were thrown into confusion and 

SECOND (2ND) SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR B (JANUARY 15 2012): A REFLECTION ON THE READINGS

Welcome to the Ordinary Time of the Year. the Christmastide just ended with the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. Here is my reflection for next Sunday, the  2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B: 

Some years ago, a little stubborn boy went to his parish priest and said “Father, I will like to do the things you do”. “What things the priest asked and the boy replied “the things you do as a priest”. The priest then said to him, “Ok my boy, the priesthood is a vocation and you are not yet called to it”. With this the boy retorted, “but you told us on the feast of the baptism of Our Lord that by virtue of our baptism, we share in the tripartite offices of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King and that we all have our vocations, having being baptized and with a vocation, how then am I not called to it?”.

The little intelligent boy in our story posed an interesting question to the priest on the concept of vocation. The word ‘vocation’ is from the Latin verb voco vocare, meaning ‘to call’. Vocation is a call to something. In Christian context, vocation is regarded as a special call by God to a special duty especially a religious duty.

Fr Cantalamessa's Homily for 4th Sunday of Advent Year B

Here is a translation of the Advent sermon delivered  by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Pontifical Household, in the presence of Benedict XVI and members of the Roman Curia. The sermon was the fourth and last in a series. Father Cantalamessa offered a series of reflections on the theme "'For What We Preach Is Not Ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord' (2 Corinthians 4:5): Faith in Christ Today."
 

I decided to share this homily in my blog because of its richness. Kindly read more to have a full text of the homily.

The Experience of the Salvation of Christ Today

1. What Savior for man?

In one of the last Christmases, I was attending a midnight Mass presided over by the Pope in St. Peter's. The moment came to sing the Calends: